Freedman's Essay 'Are Engineered Foods Evil?'

There are several reasons why there is a general negative connotation when mentioning genetically modified foods in a public setting. In David H. Freedman’s essay, “Are Engineered Foods Evil?” he explored the hotly debated topic of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). There are even debates on when a modified food should be labeled as a GMO. In this essay, I will explore Freedman’s points and his use of logos to illustrate why this became an issue in the first place. Before illustrating Freedman’s points, I will provide background, establish my credibility and explain how this issue affects me. Being a Biochemistry major, I have taken numerous classes involving both biology and chemistry. More specifically I have taken molecular biology,

Some causes of this negative opinion about GMOs stem from people believing that modifications to DNA are unnatural and should not be tampered with. What they do not realize is that changes to our DNA happen all the time. The DNA in your body is constantly changing due to random occurrence and by radiation. Your body is usually efficient as correcting these mistakes, but sometimes the mistakes slip by and this is called a mutation. Generally mutations are harmless and do not affect your DNA at all, but occasionally it will stop a gene from functioning or add a new function. These mutations can sometimes be beneficial or detrimental. Naturally, the beneficial mutations get passed down generation to generation and the detrimental mutations do not get passed down. One example of this is corn, which is completely different from what it started as. Wheat is another example. “Ordinary wheat has long been strictly a human-engineered plant; it could not exist outside of farms, because its seeds do not scatter” (Freedman 633). Scientists wish to manipulate these mutations so that organisms will only have beneficial mutations and none of the detrimental ones. Gene and trait manipulation is not a new practice. In 1865, Gregor Mendel observed that he could breed certain pea plants together to make the size of the peas as big as possible.

Freedman points out that many of the scientists who are voicing negative views about GMOs are simply protecting their own causes. There is a difference from stating that something MAY have health effects that are unknown at this time and stating that a product does not have any health effects at all. I think that this is an important opposing view because it shows that we still have a lot to learn about gene modification and that there is still room for growth. However, at this time the benefits of engineering outweigh its unknown